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Unit 2: The Science of Global Change
Melissa Ramirez, Ph.D. and Jason Flores, Ph.D. provide an introduction to the topic of the Science of Global Change.
Ethan Hyland, Ph.D. describes the major changes in climate over the last half billion years, how we know about them, and what caused them.
In this podcast, Ethan Hyland, Ph.D. discusses what coal is made of, where it came from, and why it is a non-renewable resource. He also discusses how burning coal impacts Earth’s climate.
In this podcast, Ethan Hyland, Ph.D. discusses where the oil we use today came from and how its source is different from that of coal.
Paleontology may seem far removed from our day-to-day lives, but Lindsay Zanno, Ph.D. argues that the science of paleontology not only gives us perspective on the world we live in today, it allows us to model our future with greater certainty.
A stunning variety of bees help plants reproduce and bear fruit in North Carolina. In this podcast “Why We Need Bees,” Elsa Youngsteadt, Ph.D. gives an overview of what pollination is, and how diverse bee species can do a better job of it than one species alone.
Given the plight of all pollinators, including honey bees, David Tarpy, Ph.D. highlights our need to work toward a more sustainable apiculture system to promote all of agriculture.
DeAnna Beasley, Ph.D. explores how insects can serve as indicators of environmental change and provide insight into the impacts on human populations.
What are extremophiles? What can we learn from them that is relevant in our warming climate? Carols Goller, Ph.D. introduces you to these resilient microbes, and discusses how we can apply what we learn from them as we face current challenges.
¿Qué son los extremófilos? ¿Qué podemos aprender de ellos que que sea relevante al cambio climático? El profesor Goller se presenta estos microbios resilientes y discuten cómo podemos aplicar lo que aprendemos de ellos al enfrentar los retos actuales.
Are trees always good? Is fire always bad? Are reforestation efforts in the tropics the best way to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere? What value is there in other ecosystems, like savannahs and grasslands?
